Simple. Joy.
Joy. That was the topic of today’s sermon at UUSS. It was a good reminder that joy is always accessible to us, if we make the effort to be aware of our bodies, be in the present moment, relax, breathe, and smile. Doug, the senior minister, said something that really resonated for me: "Anxiety is excitement without the benefit of oxygen." In other words, if you can focus just on breathing, you may find your anxiety mellows into a more comfortable state of excitement. I’ll take that over feeling anxious any day.
I skipped four holiday parties this weekend—one because I couldn’t get babysitting, one because I couldn’t fathom driving all the way to the Santa Cruz mountains with the kids and no hubby to help me, one because I got a better offer to hang out with
Simple. Joy. I think I’m trying to rest in both of these concepts. I would like to call this my theme for the month. Wouldn’t that be marvelous? Maybe it would stave off all the anxiety and batter down the encroaching army of shoulds.
So, tonight was a simple dinner of tom ka gai and spring rolls, a little telly, some knitting, labeling jam jars, stringing popcorn garlands with the kids, and just a touch of mobsters (for work). And now to bed.
“When you wish someone joy, you wish them peace, love, prosperity, happiness… all the good things.”
—Maya Angelou
—Thich Nhat Hanh
December 15, 2008 at 1:36 am
Lovely. I’m so happy that your weekend was full of joy. I particularly like the Nhat Hahn quote, he’s one of my heroes!
December 15, 2008 at 11:27 am
The more I read about your life the more I see the things we have in common. I am also working on ways to simplify my life. Things have been too much and too crazy and I’m feeling the need to shrink my world to focus on what’s important. Cooking dinner and spending time with the family sounds like the perfect evening to me.
And about anxiety. I had a therapist who told me that anxiety tends to be about things that are beyond the present and what can be controlled. One way to deal with those feelings is to focus on the “now.” So when I feel anxious I try to notice the surface underneath me, or the color of the walls, or the feeling of my breathing, or what my hands are touching. It can make a big difference in breaking out of the anxiety cycle.
Keep taking care of you! And I do indeed wish you joy.